Not Just Friends (Hot in the City Book 3)

by T Gephart

  Sighing, I pushed the button under my desk that unlocked my office door. The security in the club had always been next level, but since Lewis, the ex in question, had recently taken up breaking and entering, I was glad for the extra measures. “You get thirty seconds, and the clock is ticking. Don’t make me fire you tonight.”

  Bennett knew I was kidding, on top of being the head of my security team, we’d also become pretty good friends. And while he stood close to seven foot and weighed more than a compact car, underneath that scary exterior was a mama’s boy who had an amazing heart. Lord, the guy even took her to church on Sundays, though he’d probably kill me if I’d ever mentioned it at work.

  His big mouth spread into a grin, his eyebrow raising as he walked in and closed the door behind him. “You threaten me every night, Presley. One of these days, you’re either going to have to follow through or I’m going to start thinking you ain’t got the balls.”

  “C’mon, B. You know that, despite my appearance, balls aren’t something I lack.” I smirked back. “Which is why I’m going to open up Diablo 2.0 in the Meatpacking district, and convince David to let me buy in.”

  I hadn’t breathed a word to anyone other than Bennett about my plans for the expansion or the cash-for-capital strategy I was working on. But while David Cheng—the billionaire who had more money than he could ever use in fifty lifetimes—didn’t need my investment, I was done building someone else’s empire.

  Bennett rolled his eyes. “Stop trying to make the rest of us look bad. Jesus, at twenty-six, all I was thinking about was getting laid and having a good time. I thought only closet nerds and teenage geniuses wanted to be entrepreneurs.”

  “Who says getting laid, having a good time and being an entrepreneur have to be mutually exclusive?” I laughed. “And considering you had your own security firm at twenty-six, I’d say we aren’t all that different.”

  He shrugged, raising a brow. “You think we should get married and have kids? Settle down?”

  “That’s the worst proposal I’ve ever heard. You didn’t even get down on one knee,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

  Bennett laughed. “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”

  I loved how uncomplicated things were with him, how we could toggle between business and personal stuff and none of it felt awkward. He knew about Lewis breaking into my apartment, and how a few months earlier he’d pulled a gun on me, which had me finally kicking him out for good. But he didn’t coddle me, making sure I knew he was there for whatever I needed, without making me feel like the scared little girl everyone assumed I should be.

  “So . . . is that why you interrupted me? To tell me I should have a better work/life balance?” I asked, honestly surprised that he’d come to my office solely for a philosophical chat.

  He smirked, the cocky look on his face making me slightly unsettled. “Nope, just wanted to see if you’d pulled a fire alarm. Clearly, you haven’t checked the monitors.”

  Goddamn it.

  I hadn’t checked the monitors, too buried in spreadsheets, cost reports and prospective real estate sites to give them the attention I usually did. But I swear, as much as I loved and appreciated him caring, if the hovering didn’t stop, my parents were going to find themselves short a son.

  “Tell Tibbs—”

  “Not your brother.” Bennett cut me off, grinning wider. “It’s the other one. The one whose tongue hits the floor every time he gets eyes on you. Caught him sneaking in the staff side entrance and was ten seconds from laying him out. Of course, I didn’t know if you wanted the pleasure.”

  Jared. Leighton.

  Of course.

  Because sending me a text to apologize after we’d had sex was what every woman wanted. Especially when it was from the guy who featured in almost all your teenage fantasies. The same guy you’d harbored deep and dirty thoughts about for longer than was reasonable. And boy, every single one of those dirty thoughts hadn’t even come close to how good it had been.

  Pity he had no spine and cared too much what anyone else thought. I’d have totally been into cueing up my fantasies and playing them out, one by one.

  “You thought I might want to lay him out?” I rose slowly, wondering if it was somehow written all over my face that my ride home hadn’t stopped with the drive. There was no way anyone could have known considering I hadn’t told a soul. Unless Leighton had opened his big mouth, and judging by his need to keep it between us, I’d say that was highly unlikely.

  “Presley, don’t pretend like making men piss down their legs isn’t a turn on for you.” Bennett laughed, my body relaxing as he continued. “You love it, so if you want to read him the riot act, I’ll let you do the honors. Just make sure he comes through the front from now on. Not like we ever make him or anyone else from your brother’s company pay the cover.”

  That was true, which begged the question why he’d been trying to sneak in. Oh, and I still had no idea why he’d come in the first place, unless it was to humiliate me further by telling me to my face what a mistake last night had been.

  “Do me a favor and escort him in. I assume he’s alone?” My skin tingled, knowing if he’d been with someone, Bennett would have already mentioned it. Which meant the conversation—or confrontation—was going to happen with just the two of us.

  Good.

  “Yep, he’s without the entourage. I’ll send him in.” Bennett chuckled, heading toward the door.

  My eyes flashed to the monitors I had been ignoring, seeing him at the bar.

  Hell.

  If I thought sleeping with him was going to stop me from being attracted to him, I was sadly mistaken. I remembered exactly how that six-foot-three athletic body had felt against mine, with his gorgeous blue eyes looking down at me. They were so clear, almost translucent, but could fill to an inky black when I screamed out his name. It was like I could still feel his lips against my skin, still see my fingers raking through his sandy blond hair. And as much as I wanted to pretend it hadn’t been the best sex of my life, I couldn’t deny that it had been even better than my fantasy.

  Clearly, the feeling hadn’t been mutual, his body language animated while he spoke to Raelle, one of my female bartenders who was never short of male attention. She was beautiful, dressed to maximize her tips, and able to make any cocktail no matter how complicated. It was no wonder he—like anyone else with a penis—wanted her attention. Wonder if he was planning on circling back to the bar after our little chat, picking her up after her shift was over and giving her a little taste of what I’d had the night before. After all, she didn’t have the complications I apparently did, so wouldn’t get the apology after.

  Bennett approached him, Leighton’s hand rose in a wave as he said his goodbye—or see you later—to Raelle and followed Bennett back to my office. I didn’t move from my desk, watching their progression through the club on the colored screens until there was a brief knock at the door before it opened.

  “Thanks, B, that will be all for now.” I pretended to be bored, my eyes moving slowly to where they were both standing in front of my desk. It was a big desk too, the wood imposing a five-foot distance between me and anyone I granted an audience. Total mind fuck, which was why I liked it so much, paying the ridiculous price for the custom piece out of my own pocket.

  “Presley—”

  I held my hand up, not allowing Leighton to say another word until Bennett closed the door behind him. “Well, well, well. Sneaking into Diablo, Leighton. Tell me, does your mother know?” My lips twitched into a grin, unable to help myself at landing the little jab.

  His face morphed in confusion, probably wondering whether he should be offended or if the fact I was joking about it meant good things. Not that I was entirely sure what I was doing since my feelings for him weren’t clear either. It was hard to be angry at him, especially when he was standing in front of me and looking so goddamn delicious.

  “I wasn’t sneaking in.” He tried to move closer, looking down at
the desk separating us. If he wanted to close the distance, he was either going to have to vault over it or walk around, and I was curious which way he was going to go. Not going to lie, part of me wanted to see him make the leap, show off the athletic talents he’d so willingly treated me to the night before. “But your brother has friends keeping an eye on the place, and I didn’t want to deal with the questions it would invite if someone saw me.”

  “Then why are you here at all?” I rolled my eyes, huffing out a breath. “If you’re concerned about me telling him, you could’ve saved yourself the trip. I don’t kiss and tell, Leighton.”

  He shook his head, swallowing. “I don’t either. But obviously with you . . .”

  “But with me, what? You’re worried I’m going to run to my brother crying that you fucked me and then left?” I scoffed, the laugh making its way up my throat. “Or maybe you think I’m going to get attached, fawn over you like a love-sick schoolgirl. You think I’m incapable of no-strings, Jared? You’re the one making a big deal out of it.”

  Sure, I’d wanted more, but not in the way he probably thought.

  Hell, I’d just gotten out of a relationship, there wasn’t a chance I was interested in another. But that didn’t mean a little fun with a guy I’d thought about naked more times than was probably reasonable, wasn’t an option either. And I could have totally kept it casual. Not that he’d given me the chance.

  “You know it was different. Fuck’s sake, Presley, there’s a fucking lunatic after you for God knows what. Getting into your pants should have been the last thing on my mind. I’m not that asshole, Presley. I am not the guy who takes advantage of women, especially women I care about.” His hands curled into fists beside him, his muscles tight with agitation.

  “Just stop right there!” Anger mixed with embarrassment bubbled in my gut, my skin probably flushing pink. “You want to pretend last night didn’t happen, that’s fine. But I am not some damsel in distress that didn’t know what the hell she was doing, Leighton. I invited you up to my apartment. I took you to my bed. And I was the one who took your cock—”

  “Jesus, you trying to kill me here, Presley?” He cut me off, cursing under his breath. I was still mad, but liked how much I’d gotten to him. That his eyes had darkened, that his fists were twitching uncomfortably at his side and that his chest was moving faster.

  Good.

  “Tell me, are these thoughts of regret because I’m Justin’s sister, or Lewis turned out to be a psychopath?”

  Not that either scenario would make me feel better, but only one would cease to be an issue. And neither was my fault.

  He swallowed, waiting a minute like he was choosing his words. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Leighton, you know me. There’s more of a chance of me hurting you than the other way around. Find another excuse.”

  “You shouldn’t . . . I mean, with everything happening. . . you should be—”

  I didn’t let him finish, not willing to sit there and have him or anyone else tell me how I should be feeling. “Let’s get one thing straight, Leighton. You can feel however you want about last night. Whether it’s a regret or not, is totally up to you. But you don’t get to come in here and mansplain to me on how I should be feeling and what I should be doing. Not you, my brother, Lewis, or anyone else gets that. That’s my choice. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in a corner and cower.” Even if I am scared, I finished in my head. “So, if that’s all you came to say, you can go. I’ll find someone else to scratch that itch.”

  That did it.

  His eyes widening as his nostrils flared, picking up the edge of the desk and shoving it to the side to clear a path. “Then let me do this instead.”

  The objects on my desk hadn’t even stopped rattling, papers tumbling to the ground as the heavy legs were planted back on the floor. His blue eyes filled with black, his big body filling the small gap he’d created when he hulk-lifted my desk, pulling me out of my chair. And I was in his arms with his lips on mine before I’d fully realized what was happening.

  “I don’t regret it,” he groaned against my lips. “I know I should, but fuck me, I just can’t.”

  I’d wanted to hesitate, to not kiss him back, refusing to give him the upper hand but somewhere in the shock, I’d forgotten to fight him. His hands were on my ass, the heat of his kiss burning up my core while his body pressed against mine. And he wasn’t subtle, his tongue exploring the inside of my mouth while his hands got reacquainted with what he apparently wasn’t going to touch again.

  Famous.

  Last.

  Words.

  The thrill of satisfaction heated my skin as I kissed him back, my fingers traveling down his spectacular torso before pulling him closer.

  He was hard. The evidence of exactly how he felt teasing me through the fabric of my dress and the fly of his jeans. I loved it, unable to stop the whimper from escaping my lips as I bowed into him, lifting my leg against his hip so I could get better traction. And while I’d promised I’d never be that girl, the one who’d have sex in their office like some seedy cliché, I was really questioning how serious my resolve was.

  Maybe it didn’t have to be sex.

  Maybe he could just—

  “Boss.”

  Shit.

  If the knock at my door hadn’t stopped us, Bennett’s loud baritone voice sure as hell would. He knew better than to enter without my permission, but he also didn’t interrupt meetings—personal or otherwise—unless it was necessary.

  “Give me a minute,” I called out, pulling my mouth away from Jared’s as I tried to rein in my pulse.

  Jared’s eyes flashed to mine, panting gently while his hands were still locked on my ass. Not exactly the kind of scene I wanted my staff walking in on, even if Bennett would probably swallow his own tongue before telling anyone my business.

  Pretending I hadn’t been seconds away from sticking my hands down Jared’s pants and possibly letting him do the same to me, my practiced mask fell back into place. I’d never admit how annoyed I’d been at the interruption, a little pissed at myself for being so consumed that I’d momentarily forgotten where the hell I was. And, considering I was at work and making out with a hot fireman—I’d been crushing on forever—wasn’t listed in my job description, I had no reason to be so perturbed.

  Too bad logic was still competing with my overactive hormones.

  Shaking off the tight knot in my gut, I pulled myself together and straightened my dress. My fingers dragged against the edges of my lips, tidying my makeup before wiping the telltale signs of SUE ME Red off Jared’s mouth. A quick glance into my mirrored wall confirmed I was presentable, tilting my head to my desk which looked like it had been headbutted by a rhino. “Fix that, won’t you,” I tossed over my shoulder, not bothering to turn and see if he was going to comply as I headed to the door and unlocked it manually.

  Bennett looked bored, a quick survey of the space almost unnoticeable as his eyes slid slowly to Jared who was moving my office furniture, before returning back to me. “VIP, apparently they need an audience. Your presence is required.”

  His brow lifted indicating he was less than pleased at having to deliver the message, or at least that’s what I hoped it meant. He could have equally been giving me the ‘I-know-what-you-were-doing’ eyebrow lift, but I wasn’t ready to deal with that. Instead, I preferred some rock star, model, or social media person had worked his last nerve, exercising their don’t you know who I am? bullshit and he was done playing interference.

  The jury was still out, but either way, that was a discussion we weren’t going to be having right now.

  “Who?” Jared’s voice came from behind us; Bennett’s brow getting even higher as he kept his eyes on me and ignored him.

  “I’ll go back to circling the club. Let me know if you need anything.” He didn’t wait for my response, turning around and closing the door behind him.

  Bennett, of all people, knew names were
off limits between the walls of Diablo, especially in the VIP section. It was a policy that attracted the A-list clientele, their location only advertised when they checked-in on their socials, and not by me or any of my staff. Hell, I’d only told Mack about his ex-wife’s new patronage when he’d been in the club to see it with his own eyes, taking my tightlipped hardline seriously even for friends.

  As Bennett left, I spun around to face Jared, the question still on his face even though he hadn’t asked again. “First rule of Fight Club . . .” I smiled, gesturing to the door.

  “You don’t talk about Fight Club.” He rolled his eyes. “I get it, but it’s just me and you. Besides, who am I going to tell? If I were to bring it up, that would just shine a light on the fact I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.”

  His words stung a little, my expression staying neutral even though it annoyed me. I assumed from his kiss he was done with worrying about other people’s opinions, but I’d been mistaken. Not sure why it bothered me so much, it wasn’t like I advertised my relationships or took a full-page ad announcing them. But with him . . . it was different. And I needed to work out why.

  “Well, we couldn’t have that now, could we? Imagine if people knew where you were?” I mock gasped, the sarcasm hiding my conflicting emotions. “So, if there’s nothing else . . .” I left my sentence trailing, pointing again to the door.

  Jared’s brow scrunched in confusion, his eyes flashing between me and the exit I was clearly hinting he take. “I thought maybe we could talk some more.” His heated gaze hovered over my lips. And it didn’t take a genius to work out talking was the last thing on his mind.

  “Well, I don’t really have time for a chat. But if you’re willing to pull out your wallet and buy a drink or two, I’m sure Raelle will gladly keep you company.” I did my best to force a smile.

  My terrible suggestion served a dual purpose. One, to see if he’d happily go back to flirting with my attractive bartender, who he may or may not attempt to sleep with. It was a free country and all of that, and she didn’t come with complications. And two, to test if the idea would make me jealous.